What’s wrong with tradition?

By Tim Bowdler | December 12, 2010

I was watching the BBC News this morning and in between the tales of stranded motorists, planes skidding off runways and items telling me how to make the perfect mince pie, was a performance from a gospel quintet singing Hark the Herald Angels Sing. The five sang jazz, accompanied by um… jazz piano. They sang […]

Visual worship case study – carols by candlelight

By Guest Blogger | December 6, 2010

We first published this post last Christmas, but its helpful for a number of churches planning their festive services so here it is again. The carol service at St Silas is always a big event and has had a variety of implications for visuals in past years. I thought it would be worth making a […]

Advent purple ribbon reflection

By Guest Blogger | December 1, 2010

Here is a simple reflection on the meaning of advent, using purple ribbon devised by Chloe Axford for EngageWorship. Reflection: Advent, from the Latin adventus, meaning arrival or coming, is a chance for us to slow down and take time to prepare for Jesus’ birth at Christmas. It is an opportunity for us to reflect […]

The Lex Buckley Interview – part 2

By Marie@Musicademy | November 29, 2010

We recently interviewed singer songwriter Lex Buckley for our blog. This is the second part of her interview where she talks about a wonderful new resource for women worship leaders as well as her ethos on writing and recording songs as a local church. You can hear one of Lex and Paul’s new songs over […]

Advent candle liturgy

By Sam Hargreaves | November 24, 2010

Advent liturgy This was written to be used as a responsive prayer during the lighting of advent candles.  The leader says the bits in normal text and the congregation responds with the text in bold.  It can add some depth to the ritual of lighting the candles, whilst being simple enough for all ages to understand. […]

Harmonizing with the sermon

By Guest Blogger | November 22, 2010

Worship song selection and sermons One of the ways worship leaders can better serve their congregation and their pastor is by choosing songs intentionally and purposefully to underline and respond to the preaching of God’s word. Not every song has to line up perfectly with the theme of the sermon, or be based on the […]

Worship and NLP – why we are drawn back to the familiar

By Guest Blogger | November 19, 2010

Have you noticed how important it is for people to worship in a particular style? Whether it is silence, or with their hands in the air or using incense or the Book of Common Prayer, there will be people who contend that they can only worship in that way. I have been quite a traveller in terms […]

The Lex Buckley Interview

By Marie@Musicademy | November 18, 2010

Paul and Lex Buckley are old friends of ours at Musicademy. Paul was one of our first guitar and drum teachers and Lex actually appeared on our first Worship Guitar DVDs. We met Lex when she was working on the worship team at Soul Survivor.  Since then she’s made a number of recordings, written a […]

Advent Liturgy

By Marie@Musicademy | November 17, 2010

This is an alternative take on an Advent liturgy – reminding people the true reasons why we should look forward to the Christmas season. You can also download the Powerpoint slides at EngageWorship.